Honoring Winter Solstice, Feng Shui Holiday Decor and The Tale of the Holly & Oak King

Hey guys welcome to the Learn Feng Shui podcast where you'll Learn Feng Shui from a classical point of view taking out the myth and Superstition so if you're interested in learning fun Chinese astrology all things Chinese metaphysics as well as the superstitions and myths that connect it all you'll enjoy learning funu with me hey guys welcome to this episode of Lauren funu podcast today we're going to be blending the magic of the holiday season with the balance of fun I'm Candice Berlanga certified funu practitioner and red Ripper professional with the international funu Guild and today I'm going to be sharing tips from this month's newsletter on how to incorporate the five elements into your Christmas decor for harmonious and festive home and we're going to dive into the traditions of winter solstice including a little reading of of the holiday Oak King and looking at some Ule and Pagan Traditions you might want to incorporate into your holiday celebration is a good way to embrace The Season's energy and celebrate the Turning of the Year let's get into it all right from learnfengshui.com on this month's newsletter fun your holiday let's add some attention into your holiday core with the five elements page one of the newsletter here looking first at the wood element the this does represent growth and vitality bringing in the wood elements energy of growth vitality and New Beginnings into your space can help inspire you just think about growing for the next you know the upcoming up season here remember the season is water and it does feed the wood energy so it's nice to kind of think of that renewal of spring The Greenery such as real or faux Christmas tree garlands and wreaths if you have a real Christmas tree please choose a tall healthy looking tree and wood-based ornaments for an extra touch of the wood element are all nice touches Earth element represents grounding and stability I know this time of year can feel a little out of sorts especially not everyone has the same support right but not everybody has the same experience instead of comforting you might feel a little scattered well adding some Earth element can help the Earth element does encourage a sense of stability and calm and it's ideal for balancing the holiday excitement and it gives your Decor a grounded and cozy feel it does help you also balance those Reds and greens of Christmas uh one thing I like to do is I I love the Reds and greens and I usually add a burlap Garland to my tree that's one of my tips here adding burlap ribbon to your space or Greenery or using a tan tablecloth around your space to kind of ground it out and add some neutrals in can help with the busyness of the decor I think in modern times we we've kind of gotten to that really aesthetic beige Christmas which I'm not a fan of but I do think adding some of those beiges and neutrals in can help balance it out and not help you feel so overwhelmed with the visual of the Season which I actually kind of like incorporating natural materials like Ceramics clay or terracotta decorations is recommended also to bring extra Earth Energy I know I talked about this when I did the Five Element Halloween decor but pink pink is a really popular color that pale pink color is kind of that earthy tone the peachy tones can also represent that Earth Energy those are kind of Alternatives if you like those colors instead of the Browns beiges burlap natural touches like that Additionally you could add things like pine cones which can pretty easily be incorporated into Decor so bringing in the warmth and passion of the fire element can create the Lively welcoming Atmosphere Red decorations ornaments garland and ribbon of course can be incorporated easy to incorporate that red color even the twinkling lights and candles and using your fireplace or fire pit outside if you're in an area that's a little bit warmer might want to step outside and light that up there but yeah fireplace this time of year can be extra cozy um poinsettas and other red florals are also recommended to add that passion and warmth and reflecting the season here a water element and it does represent flow and just kind of that introspection that reflection inside the water does encourage flow and connection which can help create a peaceful introspective energy during this holiday season you can incorporate flowing elements like Garland and reflective items glass ornaments all represent the water element mirrors snowflakes and even icicles are a lovely way to incorporate it and thinking outside the box with color you can just do like blue or black even Deep Purple accents are nice non traditional touch to the holiday Decor especially if you don't really love the traditional Reds and greens of the Season some people just like different colors adding the metal element so you can bring in Clarity precision and honor your inner child by bringing in metal elements to your holiday space and it does help promote Precision focus and Clarity you can add silver and metallic decorations which is pretty easy to incorporate metal or tinsil and bells iridescent and rainbow colors are a really fun way to add a little bit of Whimsy and you can also add yours or your own children's handmade ornaments if you happen to have any of you inherited from your family that you made maybe your family is no longer with you but you have something you made when you were a kid remember that uh metal element in the west sector is associated with um children from some perspectives and so to honor that you can definitely uh put up some of the those handmade ornaments um you can add whites and Grays of course those Silvers which we just talked about it does mimic the coldness of the season and adds a clean Elegant Touch kind of bringing like a polished look to your setup so those are my recommendations here from the newsletter one last thing you can do if you don't like traditional Decor I've talked about this before is considering adding the three friends of winter to your Decor which is bamboo Plum Bloss aome and Evergreen they invite and represent strength perseverance and Longevity to your space it's because these plants Thrive through the Winter's cold they symbolize resilience and a steadfast Spirit even in challenging times which I think is very relevant to the times we live in right now consider adding a little Sprout of this the Evergreens is really easy to incorporate it's everywhere this you're not so sure about the plum blossom and bamboo should be coming out at stores near you in preparation for the uh Chinese New Year although you might not get those in time for Christmas lovely touches to add and serve as an attentional reminder of strength and perseverance to your space while many of us celebrate the holidays with traditional Decor not everyone connects with the season in a strictly religious way for those of you looking to embrace a more nature focused or spiritual approach incorporating y Traditions can add a meaningful and Timeless element to your celebration it's kind of explore some ways to celebrate from learn religions.com your rituals so Ule is the winter solstice it's a time of great symbolism and power it marks the return of the sun when the days finally begin to get a little longer it's also a time to celebrate with family and friends and to share the spirit of giving during the holidays here's some great ual rituals that you can do to celebrate the winter Sabbath either as part of a group or as a solitary the winter soles as a time of reflection during the darkest and longest night of the year why not take a woman to offer up a prayer and you try a different devotional prayer for the 12 Days of Christmas to give you Food For Thought during the holiday season or simply incorporate the ones that resonate with you into your seasonal rituals one I really like the first one here is setting up a y altar um this really does mimic the traditions of the ancestor worship that the Eastern Traditions do during this time um you can incorporate all the elements of funu into this you can do this by setting up candles set up a offering of some sort of wine salt incense and of course Evergreen you can add some foods to it there's not really a specific way to do it so you may try by setting up a small altar to honor your relatives or to just hold space for those who need love maybe set some attention into it but do what calls to you you can definitely add pine cones Evergreen wreaths stuff like that if You' look up Pagan erss they have pretty good examples you can do a ritual to welcome back the Sun the Ancients knew that the winter solstice was the longest night of the year which meant that the sun was beginning its long journey back towards Earth and it was a time of celebration for rejoicing in the knowledge that soon the warm days of spring would return and the dormant Earth would come back to life on this day the sun stands still in the sky and everyone on Earth knows the change is coming you can perform this ritual to celebrate Return of the sun it says a Ule cleansing ritual about a month before Ule rolls in we're minus that time right now but you can start thinking about the Clutter you've accumulated over the past year and do a spring cleaning it says here which is a great Point you're not obligated to keep things that you don't like don't need or don't use and the less physical clutter you have laying around the easier it is to function on emotional and spiritual level and we know that from a practical standpoint visual clutter can increase Stress and Anxiety just doing this ritual of clearing out your physical space before U arrives you don't have to do it all at once maybe you clear clear a few things out I've actually been doing this I need to go hit my garage up hadn't done that yet so it says here if you're one of those people who feels bad about getting rid of stuff you can donate it to a charity many organizations do coat and clothing drives this time of year so look for one in your area and if you haven't worn it or listen listen to it played with it or even eaten it in the past year then get rid of it decorating can be a nice ritual you'll definitely want things organized before you start decorating for Ule or Christmas I know that I decorate for Thanksgiving so I've taken all my stuff down and I dusted and I'm cleaning and organizing all that stuff so I can get my home organized to decorate if you're not organized yet now's your chance to get there each family member should be responsible for their own belongings another thing it mentions here is cleaning your windows it says you'll be amazed at what good window washing can do for your house to say nothing of the way you feel so it just kind of gives a little cleaning advice here um you can clean those windows clean your mini blinds dust and wipe them off it might be too cold outside but cleaning the inside of them and wiping down the blinds and stuff can definitely make your space feel better and from a Funway perspective like btb style of funu I do believe that that represents the way you see the world and your eyes and so when your windows are clear and clean that's one thing they recommend to do to get a new perspective on things so I recommend that too and using a broom to sweep can be part of the ritual we've covered this on episodes two when I talked about Sweeping in and out um of course it's symbolic way of sweeping negative energy out of your home another thing it notes is cleaning your air filter so if you have an air filter in your home HVAC filter clean that out change that out cleaning baseboards and other woodwork so getting those floors cleaned and again getting getting rid of the old getting ready for the new to come in and saging saging is a good way to do that and you know you can use those dates on the website that I have up for Lucky dates I do have some like home cleaning and clearing dates so go check that out and you can use those dates for an extra boost of good luck but you're not limited to using those you can do that anytime you can also smudge or do a spiritual cleansing on the days that are noted it does give a little bit of a smudging advice here it says to do a smudging start your front door with your incense or smudge stick in a bowl or something that can catch the debris uh you move the incense around each door and window and you go through each room following along the lines of the wall if you have multiple levels continue up and down the stairs as needed and some people like to add a small incantation to the process or a small prayer you can say any prayer You' like but here it gives one it says jel is here and I smudge this place fresh and clean in time and space Sage the sweet grass burning free as the sun returns so shall it to be I think that's lovely and again you can say your own prayer I will link to this in the show notes so if you want to repeat that Mantra or that prayer there and incorporate that intention into your space uh that'll be linked in the show notes another way to celebrate is holding a family U log ceremony I know there's different ways you can make a U log you might you can look that up here it just says a holiday celebration that began in Norway on the night of the winter solstice it was common to hoist a giant log into the heart and celebrate the return of the Sun each year if your family enjoys rituals you can welcome the sun back at Ule with a simple winter ceremony the first thing you'll need is a u log that you'll make a week or two in advance and you can enjoy this as a centerpiece prior to burning it in a ceremony you also need a fire you can do this with a ritual outside and this also ties in nicely to adding the fire element into your space so you can burn that you'll log in the fireplace or in the fire pit outside so perfect you can do a holiday tree ritual it says here that if your family uses a holiday tree during the Ule season or you'll more than likely have a Christmas tree you might want to consider a blessing the tree it just says you can do this when you put it up and when you take it down it suggests the real tree it says it's more environmentally friendly I thought the fake trees were more environmentally friendly because you keep those for years I mean I don't know maybe it's because they can pollute when you finally get rid of them I suppose I've never thrown run away I've always donated it I don't know it does talk about doing something called a goddess ritual and it talks about for solitary and for groups and it's basically the same thing we talked about it's celebrating the return of the sun it says here that it's a time that you bid the Crone farewell and invite the maiden back into your home just symbolizing the end of the year and the beginning of renewal that can also be personified as like you know how they do father time time and they welcome in the baby for the new year it's the same type of thing it also says here that you can also interpret that is the Holly and the oak King which I'm going to read here in just a minute and it kind of walks you through what you can do and it does have a little bit of um a ritual uh you can do there or you can make up your own doesn't really matter the thing that matters is that you are acknowledging the returning of the sun and the Awakening of that Yang energy again one last thing it mentions is it says you do blessing rituals for donations and it says here in many modern Pagan communities an emphasis is placed on the idea of helping those in need and it's not uncommon to attend a pagan event in which guests are invited to donate clothes canned goods toiletries or even books and pet care products donations are presented to local Aid groups food pantries libraries shelters Etc so if you're Gathering up some sort of donation then before you drop them off you can do a little bit of a blessing over the item and you can do this any way you want any deity that you recognize you can pray over remember funu does not have a religion um I myself do uh kind of do a little bit more towards the Pagan influences um because it corresponds so closely with the Chinese solar calendar and whatnot and really just a recognition of the seasons and the cross crter points so uh not not actually too very religious I am slightly involved with my local Pagan group and when they've done rituals they have asked for donations this time of year you know we need to help out whenever we can all right let's take a look at the tale of the Holly and the oak King many ual Traditions are deeply rooted in honoring the cycles of nature and the balancing of light and dark so this ties beautifully into the story of The Holly And The Oak King the tale symbolizes the Eternal dance between the waning and waxing of the year making it a perfect reflection of the winter solstice so let's take a moment to explore this myth and the wisdom that it offers in this seasonal shift from Tales from the Enchanted Forest which of course I'll link to in the show notes in the beginning before men or Seasons two brothers were born one brother was radiant and everywhere he went bloomed with life he wore the crown of Oak a tree known for its strength Beauty and Noble presence his brother was equally cheery and knew that every light needed dark so with him came the darkness and Slumber trees would lose their leaves in preparation for cold spells and animals would hide away in the warmth of their Burrows and dens he took for his crown the Evergreen Holly both brothers ruled in harmony although they did quarrel from time to time about the need for more light or more darkness no one knows what caused their Rift some say it was the beautiful goddess that loved them both others say it was the creation and Rise of humans that drove the brothers to quarrel whatever the reason each day the brothers overstepped testing the bounds of their range men love the bright sunny days and long to stay in the court of the oak King they lent their support to the Oak King King and he grew more powerful he was their fertility God their Green Man of the woods the Holly King unsupported and alone fled for the lands for some time and the world thrived in an unbroken summer over time the people grew weary without death and darkness the plants whose blooms had once been celebrated were now commonplace and the Eternal cycle of life and death was broken and the oak King was weak without rest the Holly King watched from afar until one fateful day he returned the two brothers fought a deadly battle for the crown tired and spent from keeping the world green the oak King fell and he passed his crown into the Holly King who made quick work of bringing steady death and Decay to the lands as he blanketed the world in snow the days grew shorter so the people and animals were finally able to rest all the trees lost their leaves and were Barren except for the pine and Holly which reigned Supreme some say the Holly King did not actually kill his brother but put him to rest and the battle was a plot between them to ensure the changing of the seasons without meddling from humans others say he had grown cold in Exile and slew his brother where he stood either way during the winter solstice rule when the Holly King was at the height of his power he was surprised to see his brother alive and well the oak King had risen and after a raging battle he emerged Victorious the h King was defeated and the oak King went back to work bringing spring and life back to the world each year when the other was at its strongest the oak or the Holly king would emerge to battle for the crown you might be asking yourself why would they choose the night when the other is at its best to battle surely the oak king would be defeated at Ule when he was at the weakest and the Holly king during Midsummer some Legends actually shift to change the time of the battles but Sir James George fr ER had a best example that I could find in this the little golden bow he writes that despite being at the height of its power their death indicates the beginning of their failing strength and that it's time for a new king so the wheel of the year is half dark and half light for the half of the Year Oak King brings fertility and life to the world before losing the battle to the Holly King so that's the tale and looking at a brief history of Father Christmas it does say here that the hly king is described as one of the earliest versions of Father Christmas or Santa Claus this seems kind of crazy to me because Santa is supposed to be a big Jolly guy who wears red and lives at the North Pole drinks Coca-Cola and has an army of elves to build toys for the good little children but not a self-proclaimed King that wears a crown of leaves of course commercialization might have colored me a little bit but I think it's a better way to approach this disconnect is that Santa Claus is just the newest version of Father Christmas because starting around the 15th and 16th century people began personifying Christmas as king Christmas or Prince Christmas and at this point the figure was mainly for adults and he encouraged drinking marryt and feasting later in the 17 century the term Father Christmas emerged to convince people to enjoy it in moderation however there was decline in his popularity come the 18th century so I guess people didn't love the modern idea reboots were all the rage at the moment and sure enough in the 19th century Father Christmas became the embodiment of good cheer and soon after Santa Claus entered the scene and Clement Clark Moore's poem a visit from St Nick helped cement the modern idea of Jolly Old St Nick now looking at the Oak King he is regarded as the green fertility God the oak King symbolizes rebirth fertility and life and he is not the only one there's many stories of male fertility symbols including the Green Man and the wild man of the woods specifically the green man has close ties with the oak King and they are commonly depicted as a man's face peering out of a dense foliage in the my Harding book the little green man this does look at green man sculptures and art from all over the world including places like Iraq and Lebanon from as early as the 2 Century it's hard to say what this foliage head's purpose was aside from decorative but but it reoccurring nature hints at something greater than just an art piece modern connections between the oak king and the Green Man and the Man in the woods include Peter Pan Robin Hood and The Lord of the Rings treatent I think that the story of the Holly Oak King beautifully mirrors the balance of Yin and Yang in nature so I want to include it just as the yin represents the darkness and rest the Yang symbolizes light and growth and the winter solstice marks a turning point where the long nights give way to the growing daylight and his tail just captures the shift of the oak King's rise representing the return of the light and the promise of renewal all right guys well hope you enjoyed this winter solstice episode was decorating with the five elements just wanted to take a little bit more of a mellow episode and I'll be back next week for spooky geography the long awaited episode at least for me don't know who else has been waiting for that one I always say I just do this podcast for myself uh hopefully you guys like it all right well I'll catch you guys then have a fun time decorating and enjoying these upcoming weeks till Christmas